Man wins 57 Million but casino claims software error: Denies payment

[Regulator75]

He went to claim his jackpot, owners of the casino simply said there'd been a "software error" and that the 26-year-old was therefore not entitled to the big money prize.

Instead they offered him $100 and a free meal, which, hardly surprisingly, he rejected. Admittedly, it appeared that the top prize was for a five-slot match, whereas Merlaku had only managed to match four-slots, but with the machine's screen and accompanying racket telling him he'd won, why wouldn't he believe it?

So upset was Merlaku that he has decided to launch a lawsuit against the casino, claiming it should honor the ‘win.' The incident took place earlier this year, while the legal action will begin next month.

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/16316724...or-offered-100

[Wormius]

Sounds like he is being overly litigious, but it does start the slippery slope of whether a real win could be invalidated by the casino because a software bug made 5 slots match or that some bit of code didn't work like they thought.

[MelBridgeman]

Ok so the jackpot is for a 5 slot match and he only got 4? isn't that clearly a software issue? Whether or not that stands up who knows...

[Baaarrden]

That seems like a perfectly reasonable consolation for the mix-up. Think of all the expensive things he can buy and all the bills he can pay off with that $100.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Baaarrden

That seems like a perfectly reasonable consolation for the mix-up. Think of all the expensive things he can buy and all the bills he can pay off with that $100.

Guess he can check "frivolous lawsuit" off of his bucket list.

[TSXCman]

Hard to blame him for the move now. He is going to most likely get a chunk of settlement money to stop wasting time. its no 57 million but its gonna make a huge jump

[puckluck]

I bet he wins. There is the same chance the machine made an error in only showing 4 slots instead of 5 than there is that the machine actually made an error in showing he won and only matched 4 slots.

[Itse]

For 57 million I'd say that's worth a shot. I bet one can find pretty good lawyers willing to take this case for a cut in the potential winnings. Low risk, high reward.

Against a casino, I'd have no shame.

[Gundo]

If someone told me my $57,000,000 jackpot doesn't stand I'd shoot someone and claim trigger error.

[Resolute 14]

This has happened before. Several times, actually. Damned if I can find a story that shows how previous situations were resolved, however.

[kirant]

I'm betting out of court settlement with a value less than the return of matching 4 slots (as oppose to the 5 it was programmed for), but more than 100 bucks and a free meal.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

This has happened before. Several times, actually. Damned if I can find a story that shows how previous situations were resolved, however.

I too remember reading stories about almost the exact same situation and IIRC the casino won and had the right to deny illegitimate claims that were created out of a computer error.

[Tron_fdc]

Can I recoup losses that were made by an error in judgement?

Quick! Someone call Jackie Chiles!

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by puckluck

I bet he wins. There is the same chance the machine made an error in only showing 4 slots instead of 5 than there is that the machine actually made an error in showing he won and only matched 4 slots.

Take whatever the win would be for matching 4 slots, add it to $57 million and divide by 2. That would be my goal if I were his lawyer. I don't see how people think this is a frivolous lawsuit.

[You Need a Thneed]

If the Casino would win its argument that the software made an error, wouldn't they be opening up a much bigger can of worms? Couldn't everyone who had ever played that machine sue for the $57 million jackpot?

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

If the Casino would win its argument that the software made an error, wouldn't they be opening up a much bigger can of worms? Couldn't everyone who had ever played that machine sue for the $57 million jackpot?

Frivolous because he just heard some sirens and saw flashing lights and assumed that meant he had a right to a 57 million dollar payout, despite the slot machine itself not showing a winning combination.

I agree though, there may have been something jammed up in the machine that could have prevented the machine from showing all 5 whatchamacallits. That should come out in some forensics on the machine.

[CaptainCrunch]

the problem is the $100.00 and a free meal, that's what's probaby got this guy angry.

The smart move would have been a bit more money, a comped suite, a coupla mid end hookers and tickets to Celine Dion.

[mykalberta]

This is one time where I dont think the lawsuit is frivilous.

It will be up to the Casino to prove he didnt win if he has the slips to prove otherwise.

I am not really sure why everyone is jumping to the defense of the poor helpless casino here, it is there mistake, not the mistake of the person who was supposedly playing their "fair" and unbiased game. How does anyone know the machine hasnt made any other mistakes and said people have not won when in fact they have won.

[jydk]

I've worked in the gaming industry, here in Canada, though, not in Australia where this occurred, but I'm sure they're held to certain standards the same way we are.

First, I'm sure the machine in question was a progressive jackpot shared over many machines, and many casinos, monitored by some government agency. How this works is the government owns these machines, and allows the casinos to set them up on their floors, and gives them a percentage of action. Similar to how VLT’s work here in bars. This also goes for the high progressive jackpot machines in Vegas, too.

Second, the casino manager(s)/owner(s), would have no say in whether this guy deserves the Jackpot or not. It’s not their call. Here, how it works when someone wins on a progressive machine, before any payout is made, the winning machine is shut down, and investigated by Alberta gamming to make sure no tampering had occurred and that it was an honest win, then paid out by Alberta gamming, as they are the ones truly facilitating the game.

Third, it’ll depend on how the machine is programmed to work, and what exactly went wrong. As mentioned earlier in this thread, these machines are electronic, that is when the machine is played, it’s really just a random generator deciding the fate, then telling the machine where to stop the reels. So therefore the guy may have won, but the reels got jammed, preventing it from properly showing the win. Or, he wasn’t meant to win, and the reels stooped where they should have, but the machine triggered the jackpot signals in error, telling this guy that he had won, when in fact he hadn’t.

I don’t believe there is any conspiracy happening here where the casinos have a loop hole allowing a way for them not to pay this guy. I’m sure it’ll be fully and honestly investigated. With regards to the casino offering this guy $100 and a meal, I think it was just a poor managing decision.

[afc wimbledon]

Gambling didn't make much sense before computors, for the life of me can't understand why anyone would bother now.